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Mission Statement

As part of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Eye Institute’s mission is to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind.”

Twelve students participated in the second class of DIVRO interns in the summer of 2012, coming to the NEI to conduct research in vision and ophthalmology. The students, from universities across the country, spent their summer working in various labs and facilities across the NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD, presenting their work at the 2012 NIH Summer Poster Day.

In addition to their lab work, the DIVRO interns participated in a series of brown bag seminars with Dr. Roland Owens, Assistant Director in the NIH Office of Intramural Research, Dr. Robert Lembo, Deputy Director of the NIH Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education, and Dr. Deborah Carper, NEI Deputy Director and Dr. Sarah Sohraby, NEI Deputy Scientific Director. They also presented at the NEI Summer Journal Club on Topics in Vision and Ophthalmology, visited the NEI Eye Clinic, and participated in workshops sponsored by the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education.